2025: Collaborative Adaptation
Minnehaha Creek, the namesake of the Minnehaha Creek watershed, flows through densely populated urban and suburban areas — originating at Lake Minnetonka and culminating at the Mississippi River in South Minneapolis. To mitigate flooding on Lake Minnetonka and along the creek, Hennepin County Emergency Management and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District partnered to install stream and rainfall gauges across the watershed. These gauges continuously measure precipitation and real-time water flow and elevation, equipping watershed district staff with the data needed to communicate flood risk and manage Gray’s Bay Dam proactively, reducing flood impacts. Amid increasingly variable weather and precipitation patterns, this innovative partnership delivers real-time data that serves as a critical resource for coordinating flood response across communities.
